Spiced Caramelized Pear and Walnut Bread with Cinnamon Streusel

Embracing these Fall days with this Spiced Caramelized Pear and Walnut Bread with Cinnamon Streusel! A simple loaf made extra special by using the spiced syrup from the caramelized pears! Cooked down sugar, with plenty of spice (ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg!), and loaded with fresh pears. It’s simply irresistible! But, once you stir it into the batter with a handful of chopped walnuts…the aromatics alone make it drool-worthy! The goodness doesn’t stop here, though. Finish this sweet bread off with a bit of Walnut Cinnamon Streusel for that little bit of something extra special! Baked to perfection and served while just slightly warm with a generous drizzle of Homemade Caramel Sauce. There’s truly nothing like it! Perfect for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just when you want a delicious Fall inspired treat.

→ This post is also available as a Web Story: Caramelized Pear Bread

About The Recipe

Happy Monday, everybody! The time has officially changed, Fall is definitely here, and we’re finally posting our first EVER pear recipe and it’s a good one, trust me!

Though, getting it to this yummy perfection was a little bit of a challenge. The first test bake of this loaf was, and this is putting is nicely, not pretty. It tasted fine but it kinda…baked up over the pan and we had batter all. over. the oven. It was a huge mess! Thankfully, my mom caught it pretty early and managed to get a sheet pan up under it to catch the rest of the excess while it finished baking.

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And, even though it baked over like crazy, the loaf looked salvageable! It was big, fluffy, and perfectly browned on top. So, we took it out of the oven using a pizza peel!

The minute we even just bumped it, the loaf sank (as did our hearts).

But! We were determined to make the best of it. With our sunken loaf in hand, we cut away the burnt excess on the pan and attempted to turn it out. Notice how I said attempted…

Yeah, the bread stuck. Not just stuck, though. No, no! The loaf was literally just goo. I’ve never had sticky toffee pudding, but I imagine it would be pretty similar to what was in our pan.

It DID taste good, however! It was a bit too sweet, but still very spicy and very tasty.

The second bake turned out perfectly! We scaled the recipe WAY back. I mean, my mom used a measurement called a “smidgen” (for those unfamiliar, it is apparently less than a pinch). It gave us a good laugh, but it actually worked!

The entire time making our second test bake was spent with us giggling over just how small of an amount we WERE making. There was no way this was going to be enough for a normal sized loaf!

Well, it actually turned out really great! It was just a bit too small. It more than doubled in size, but it wasn’t the full sized loaf we were hoping for. So, one more bake with a bit normal measurements.

Third times a charm! This loaf came out STUNNING! It was everything we could hope for. Soft, perfectly, nutty, spicy, with subtle hints of pear…think banana bread, but without the bananas!

If you’re unfamiliar with baking with pears, don’t expect a punch of pear flavor in this loaf. It’s a subtle sweetness, really. Just a hint of pear. The real star is the spiced syrup that gives this loaf all of it’s flavor! It’s truly the perfect combination of Fall flavors.

Equipment Needed

• Small Pot
• Wooden Spoon
• Mixing Bowls
• Whisk
• Rubber Spatula
• Loaf Pan
• Baking Spray
• Cake Tester
• Food Processor

Ingredients

For The Pears:

• Sugar
• Ground Ginger
• Ground Nutmeg
• Fresh Pear

For The Loaf:

• All-Purpose Flour
• Salt
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Cinnamon
• Nutmeg
• Ginger
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar
• Eggs
• Vegetable Oil
• Buttermilk
• Vanilla Extract
• Caramelized Pears
• Walnuts

For The Streusel:

• Walnuts
• All-Purpose Flour
• Brown Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon

Instructions

In a small, heavy pot, combine the sugar, ginger, and nutmeg. Cook over medium low heat, stirring only after sugar starts to melt, until the sugar is completely dissolved.

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Stir in the pears. Continue to cook and stir over medium low heat until sugar melts again completely.

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Transfer into clean glass bowl and let cool.

In the smallest bowl of the food processor, pulse together the walnuts, flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Set aside.

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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.

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Beat the sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vegetable oil in a large bowl.

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Add the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.

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Mix in the buttermilk and vanilla.

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Add the caramelized pears and walnuts.

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Spoon batter into greased loaf pan. Top with streusel and bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, or until loaf tests done. Let cool in the pan before turning out.

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Drizzle top with caramel sauce and serve!

How To Store

This bread needs to be kept in the refrigerator! It should keep for about 5-7 days. You can also store this loaf in the freezer for 1-2 months. Just omit the caramel sauce until you’re read to serve.

Expert Tips

• Do not leave your sugar unattended when making the syrup. It can burn very quickly.
• Lumps may form when you stir the syrup. This is okay. Just break them down with your spoon and stir until everything is dissolved and the syrup is a beautiful golden brown.
• Make sure your spices are in-date and not expired.
• Don’t panic when you add the pears to the sugar syrup! The sugar syrup will harden, but you need to just keep cooking and stirring. It will dissolve.
• Remember to cover the bread after 30 minutes of bake time!
• Top with caramel sauce, if desired.

When you make this Spiced Caramelized Pear and Walnut Bread with Cinnamon Streusel, leave a comment down below! We love hearing from you and answering any questions you might have! Also, be sure to tag us on social media and hashtag it #BakersTable.

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